CTV's Bob Fife...

According to Bob, the Liberals are losing their way because they've been focusing on things Canadians don't care about; things like the Afghan detainee issue, a First Nations University in Saskatchewan, and Israel.

Isn't that just emblematic of what's wrong with the Canadian media? His vision is that you should only focus on the "big headline" issues, but I'm pretty sure that the point of having 300 plus members from across the country is that a wide range of issues can be brought to the agenda. The question is, then, should the Liberals focus on uncovered issues before they're mainstream and elevate them to headline grabbing status, or wait until they're headline grabbing and desperately latch on to them. This is a bit of a dilemma because in Bob's Question Period 101 class, you don't focus on non headline issues, but if you don't find these other issues, there won't be any to bring to the forefront. I guess MP's should play more politics than they do now, and Jane Taber can get more fodder for her gossip column.

Seriously though, some of these issues might not be Lisa Raitt sexy, but they're worth discussing. Additionally, bringing up issues that aren't in the headlines might reveal some that deserve more spotlight. You know, investigating and uncovering issues. I guess some media bodies don't really value that.

I'm talking about this from a Liberal perspective because that's just me, but the standpoint from which a lot of media members operate isn't beneficial to any political party long term. I never really thought about this, but this could be one of the reasons why Harper hasn't had a majority. He's operating within a media sphere where he has to manoeuvre within such narrow confines that it's pretty hard to expose himself and his party. Would exposing himself and his party give him his majority? Well there are two sides to every coin.